By Chris Aldridge

Kentucky Ag News

A Graves County farm was among six honored by the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association with its annual Family Farm Environmental Excellence Awards at the International Poultry Expo.

Isbell Family Farms, near Mayfield, won the award for the nation’s Southeast Region recognizing exemplary environmental stewardship by family farmers engaged in poultry and egg production. The association also recognized three finalists, including Edge Brothers Poultry Farm in Daviess County near Whitesville.

“The outstanding job these family farms do in being good stewards of their land is an honor to celebrate,” said Jarod Morrison, the association’s outgoing chairman. “Our industry could not continue to perform and flourish without taking proper care of our natural resources.”

Applicants were rated in several categories, including litter management, nutrient management planning, community involvement, wildlife enhancement techniques, innovative nutrient management techniques, and participation in education or outreach programs.

“We've done a lot of work around our farm on erosion control and just the overall appearance,” said owner Tyler Isbell. “What we do is not just growing chickens; it's also maintaining the farm. We work just as hard outside of the barns as we do inside.”

Isbell Farms houses more than 300,000 broiler chickens in eight large barns. It has a contract with Tyson Foods to raise the chickens for 52 days, from newborn chicks to maturity, when they are shipped to the company’s meat processing plant just across the Kentucky border in Obion County, Tennessee.

Isbell, who graduated from Murray State University with a degree in accounting, worked as a controller for a manufacturer before using his business skills to become a poultry farmer. 

“Our first child came along and kind of put some things in perspective.” he said. “I thought, ‘It'd be great to raise our kids on a farm, and I think it's something I could do.’ So, we actually ended up buying his (friend’s) parents’ farm. I put it all on a spreadsheet, and the spreadsheet said it would work, and it did.”

For more than four years, Isbell raised about 126,000 chickens in six smaller barns on the farm in Fulton County, the westernmost county in Kentucky that borders the Mississippi River. 

“Tyson announced that they were expanding, so I told them that's a way for us to grow our farm,” he said. “We sold that farm, bought some land in Graves County, and built a new farm (in 2019), and here we are.”

The new farm is home to nearly 2½ times more chickens than the old one, forcing Isbell to give up his day job.

“I pretty much gave up the accounting and went into farming full-time,” he said. “I still do some consultant work, but as far as going into an 8-to-5 job five days a week, that's done.”

The new farm was a move back home for Isbell, who is from Graves County. “Our farm is actually about eight miles or so from where I grew up,” he noted.

Isbell has two full-time employees, while his wife, Sarah, an Owensboro native, keeps the books. Their two children help their dad on weekends.

“It's good most days,” Isbell said of the career change. “Some days, it would be easier to go into the office and be able to turn it off, but as a whole, it's been good. It's been good for our family, and it's been fun.”